“Hey, did you hear? There’s going to be a duel right from the first day of school!”
“What? Who’s fighting?”
“It’s between the youngest elder of the Golden Tower and a troublemaker from the Price family!”
“Wow, those two? What a big match!”
“Are you going to watch?”
“Of course I’m going!”
During lunchtime at the Department of Political Science.
Students flocked in one direction.
That direction was toward the arena of the Department of Hero Studies.
Why were they heading to the other side of the island in the afternoon?
The Department of Political Science had no classes this afternoon.
For practical learning, the Department of Political Science handles the administrative tasks of the Academy.
However, since they had only just been admitted, there were no tasks assigned to them, nor had any departments been decided yet.
Thus, the political science students finished their day much earlier than students from other departments.
But finishing school didn’t mean the day was over for political science students.
The Department of Political Science was for those interested in politics.
In the medieval era, a politician was synonymous with nobility.
Thus, over 90% of students in the Department of Political Science were nobles.
For nobles, the end of the school day did not signify the end of their day.
They still had social activities to attend.
Normally, some would head to the cinema, and others to a tea party as part of their social activities.
However, today, a big event suitable for socializing happened to be scheduled for lunchtime.
Young men and women, still in their active years, hurried to the training grounds.
But they shouldn’t forget to take care of their superiors.
Although the duel was an exciting event, its essence was still social activity.
In an atmosphere where everyone was attending to their superiors, the prince and princess at the top of the noble caste did not follow.
They were the decision-makers.
It was not for them to partake in social activities; nobles should be the ones to seek their favor.
For students of their age, fully embodying this might be a challenging feat.
Yet, among them, there were those who practiced it.
“Your Highness, please move along.”
“Hm, and you?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Ron Flamebell, the third son of the Flamebell family. I had the honor of debating with you in today’s lecture.”
“Oh, my mind is all over the place. I’m sorry. I should have apologized.”
“My apologies.”
“Right, you said you’re going to watch the duel? I’m not very interested.”
“Pardon, Your Highness?”
Ron was taken aback by Leon’s unexpected response.
While the prince in the Empire was not as absolute as the emperor, it was still not loose enough for lower nobles to question him.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I misspoke…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Your reaction is understandable.”
“No, Your Highness. How could I question your will?”
“It’s not about whether you question it. You think, no matter how high the prince’s power is, that he shouldn’t be concerned with social activities?”
“No, Your Highness. I would never hold such impious thoughts.”
“I prefer honest subjects over those who speak flattering words. Just look at how the troublemaker from the Price family is my close friend.”
Leon smiled at Ron’s reaction.
Ron’s response was a failure as a noble.
Even if he didn’t feel it, he should have denied Leon’s words to the end and flattered him by claiming that his friend was not a troublemaker.
But if he had done that, Leon would have lost interest in him.
As he said, Leon did not need sycophants who only spoke what he wanted to hear.
Ironically, Ron Flamebell’s noble ineptitude engraved his name into Leon’s memory.
Leon, remembering Ron Flamebell, explained why he wasn’t heading to the arena.
“Wouldn’t it be better to watch a movie rather than wait for hours at the arena to see a duel that lasts only a few seconds? It would be more conducive to socializing.”
Leon fluttered a ticket in front of Ron.
Ron bowed his head slightly and accepted the ticket.
As Leon and a few young nobles headed toward the cinema, Phia was surrounded by young ladies.
Coincidentally, her reaction was not much different from Leon’s.
She simply took the young ladies to a café she had previously selected.
The reason why the royal family could be so resolute compared to other nobles was because they had information that others did not.
Outwardly, Allen Price was known as a foster brother and close friend, but in reality, he was Leon’s personal guard.
A so-called secret warrior.
Until Allen left to shoot the Johan series, Leon had never been exposed to any assassination threats or had his identity revealed.
Among the nobles, it was believed that Leon had no guards, leading to a flood of support from young nobles and knights claiming to be bodyguards, but none were satisfactory to the royal family.
Unquestionably, Allen was the best talent available.
As a member of the royal family, Phia Parma knew Allen’s true identity and could only regret that he wasn’t her personal guard.
After all, he was skilled enough to be the personal guard of the Emperor’s eldest son.
A duel between such a person and an ordinary student…
‘Overkill.’
‘It’s hopeless.’
It probably wouldn’t be very interesting.
As expected by the royal siblings, the duel was settled in an instant.
Duel Revival Room.
Aily looked around in bewilderment.
She had just faced Allen in the arena.
And as soon as the referee blew the whistle, she had unleashed dozens of cannons…
‘I lost.’
It happened too quickly.
0.1 seconds for the cannonballs to reach Allen as he charged.
0.2 seconds for Allen to catch the flying cannonballs in mid-air and form a pistol and a sword.
0.2 seconds for him to cut the cannonballs with his sword and use the pistol to guide Aily’s shield.
0.4 seconds to reach her.
Finally, 0.2 seconds to dismantle her firewall, break through the shield, and snap her neck.
Total: 1.1 seconds.
That was the time she had to face him.
When she came to her senses, she was inside the revival chamber.
She wondered what might have happened if they had started the duel from a greater distance, but it seemed pointless.
The only change would have been that his approach time would have increased, but the distance would have closed without obstruction.
There was a reason he was called the Golden Predator.
He was the one who discovered biological ritual techniques, elastic coefficient alchemy, and cross-alchemy.
To him, all the techniques of alchemists were nothing more than things he could disassemble, reforge, and neutralize.
When he took the wizards who had been bullying her under the name of Makkora, it wasn’t because they couldn’t resist.
The overwhelming difference in strength made it impossible for Aily to do anything but accept the outcome.
Perhaps due to the aftereffects of revival, she was struggling to get up from the sarcophagus when someone approached her coffin.
Looking up slightly, she saw Allen waving at her.
“Senior?”
“Uh… Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m really fine! It was a splendid duel!”
Before the duel began, they had sworn to use their full power against each other.
Since Aily had proposed it, she had no complaints.
In fact, she felt a sense of improvement at the fact that the senior she admired so much was so far above her.
But Allen wasn’t quite the same.
With the revival means like the Sanctuary, Allen felt no hesitation.
However, after winning… it felt somewhat unpleasant.
Like an uncle trying too hard to win against his niece…
Especially since he didn’t usually care about gender when hitting people, but that was only if the opponent was a villain. Hitting a woman with no fault without mercy was something his American macho soul couldn’t accept.
(Note: In his past life, Allen was a pure-blooded Korean.)
Seeing Allen fidgeting and only paying attention to her, Aily found him quite cute and smiled.
“Senior, you don’t need to be so awkward. It was exactly what I wanted. So, for winning the bet, just tell me what you want.”
“Even so, in this situation…”
“Hurry up. Before I change my mind.”
This was Aily’s plan.
If she forced him to repay the favor, he would clearly refuse and distance himself.
So it was better to slowly repay it through natural means like bets or contracts.
Moreover, the longer this exchange lasted, the stronger their relationship would become, making it easier to repay the favor.
Unaware of the scheming smile on her face, Allen closed his eyes in thought.
Then, as if he remembered something, he opened his eyes wide.
“Senior, have you thought of something?”
“Yeah. Actually, I had a request for you.”
With a pounding heart, Aily listened intently to his request.
What could it be?
Would he ask her to buy lunch?
Or perhaps he’d want to duel more often?
No, maybe she should ask for a couple of her secret spells, given her status as a high-ranking mage?
If someone had peered into her thoughts, they would have marveled at how she, with no trace of scheming, could think of such noble and practical requests as expected from a great mage.
The request that followed from Allen was as straightforward as one could expect from a senior to a junior.
“Well, what I mean is, join my hero party.”
“Eh? I should be the one asking you for that…”
“No, you’re exactly who we need. I can’t imagine anyone else fitting as our party’s mage.”
“Senior! You think that highly of me? Okay! I’ll do my best!”
Lying in the sarcophagus, Aily happily accepted his request with shining eyes.
Seeing her so delighted, Allen was pleased as well.
“Indeed. It seems Aily enjoys movies just as much.”
Unfortunately, the terms “Hero Party” (filming team) and “Hero Party” (special unit) were homophones.
It took her four days to realize that her assigned position was in the props and production team.
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